BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
Stanford police deputies aimed a gun at a black man who wouldn’t get out of his car and who was ultimately ticketed for possessing marijuana, the university announced yesterday.
A Stanford deputy first contacted the man in a parking lot just before 11 p.m. on Saturday. The deputy thought the man had stolen packages in his car, but he was actually just a delivery driver so the deputy let him go, the university said in a statement.
Then, police learned that the registered owner of the car had an arrest warrant for a DUI. Deputies stopped the man for a second time near Escondido Village, but it turned out that he was not the registered owner and had no warrants, the university said.
The officer who initiated the stop directed the man to get out of his car and walk back to the officers, the university said.
Another deputy pulled out his gun and pointed it in the direction of the vehicle from behind his patrol car, the university said.
The deputy, who had the initial interaction with the driver also unholstered his firearm but kept it by his side, the university said.
The driver eventually got out, and officers handcuffed him and put him in the back of a police car.
Several police cars responded to the scene, and traffic control was required.
Palo Alto police officers also responded, but Stanford deputies said their assistance wasn’t needed. The Palo Alto officers left immediately, the university said.
Police ticketed the man for possession of marijuana in an unsealed container and released him.
The university didn’t say how long the man sat in his car or whether deputies violated any policies or laws.
The incident will be reviewed by the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office, which oversees and grants police powers to Stanford Department of Public Safety.
“Clearly, there is a great deal of work and healing that needs to occur so that we can achieve better outcomes for everyone, and to ensure that everyone in our community feels safe on campus,” said Laura Wilson, Stanford’s chief of police.
One can assume a warrant check run on this man at the first stop and the police knew there was no problem with him. The second stop seems pure harassment with guns.
Disgusting policing and dangerous.
How is this newsworthy? There were no injuries or any type of force used yet taxpayer dollars have to be wasted for a “review”?
And why is possessing weed a crime?
“POSSESSING WEED” THEY GOT BECAUSE SO CALLED CONTAINER WAS NOT SEALED THEY MAKE THE RULES AS THEY GO
How is this news? Happens every day in policing. There would be ZERO police “brutality” incidents if people just complied with lawful police orders. And weren’t high and committing criminal acts in the first place.
Good thing Palo Alto police left immediately.
I hope you’re being sarcastic. Paly cops have cameras on their chests and on their cars. That video will provide an independent view of this incident.
Now that former Paly chief Bob Jonsen is sheriff, and the sheriff oversees Stanford cops, I’m fully expecting Stanford will have no video of this. You know, the cameras weren’t turned on, the batteries were exhausted, dog ate the videotape — something stupid like that.
Lol just look at the abysmal record of Palo Alto Police Dept. Start with Frank Benaderet, then through 2021.
If you don’t exit your car, they pull a gun on you? I’d like to see the police rule book that says that’s OK. If he won’t get out, why don’t you pull your cop cars in front and in back of him, so he can’t go anywhere, and tell him that you’ll wait as long as he wants to wait. Seems to me that pulling a gun on him is out of line … but if that’s police procedure, somebody correct me.
SBF to 911: “There’s a black guy in my neighborhood.”
Stanford PD: “We’re on it, Sir. Driver, drop the linguini order and stop resisting!”
“Clearly, there is a great deal of work and healing that needs to occur so that we can achieve better outcomes for everyone, and to ensure that everyone in our community feels safe on campus,” said Laura Wilson, Stanford’s chief of police.
Who talks like this? A Stanford grad and 20-year Stanford employee, that’s who. Worse, she throws her deputies under the bus and then compares the incident to something like a mass shooting using misplaced euphemisms – “healing”, “better outcomes”, “our community feels safe”.